No fewer than seven Chinese experts and 24 technicians will partner with the Ugandan government to transfer simple and
inexpensive technologies used back in China to help boost food production in
Africa and ensure food security for the continent NaijaAgronet authoritatively reports.
Although Uganda is food secure, her
neighbours, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya all look at
Uganda as their food basket. These countries import various produce from Uganda
ranging from cereals, vegetables to livestock products.
Chinese experts and technicians are teaming
up with senior agricultural experts in Uganda to ensure that Uganda’s food
security remains strong and also have enough to supply to the region.
Seven Chinese experts and 24 technicians in
the fields of agribusiness, irrigation, horticulture, fishing, cereals among
others, are offering help in agricultural research institutions, the ministry
of agriculture, local governments and private farms.
“We are supposed to help resolve the food
security problem in Africa,” Wu Zhiping, the head of the Chinese team, said.
In his words, Commissioner for Crop
Resource at Uganda’s ministry of agriculture, Opolot Okasai said, “We have a lot of technologies that are
appropriate to our people, not from the North, but within the South developing
countries. These technologies are relevant to the development of our countries.
China which has developed in the last 30 years has got the most appropriate technologies,
interventions to cause the transformation especially in Africa,”
Okasai said Chinese experts are working
with local experts to set up demonstration centers where local farmers can come
and learn.
According to Okasai, Chinese hybrid rice
can yield up to 10 metric tonnes per hectare compared to the conventional rice
which yields 4.5 metric tonnes per hectare. He said the hybrid Chinese fox tail
millet can yield eight metric tonnes per hectare compared to the conventional
millet which gives a yield of up to 1.5 metric tonnes per hectare.
Wu said the Chinese rice grown in Uganda
has been tested by the ministry of agriculture experts and results show that it
is of high quality and the yield is also good.
Studies have shown that hybrid Chinese vegetables
can also do well in Uganda with the possibility of producing 12 tonnes per
hectare, Wu said.
Apart from using high yielding seeds and
fertilizers, the Chinese experts have also introduced a low-cost irrigation
system. A demonstration site has been set up in Kawanda near the capital
Kampala.
“We need to take this demonstration and let
many people see and envisage how they can implement it in their own setups,”
Okasai said.
The Chinese experts have also introduced
green house farming which can be used in urban areas where agricultural land is
limited. They argue that this type of farming can be a source of employment to
the many youths in urban areas.
City authorities in the capital Kampala
have started to adapt to green house farming as a way of employing the youths.
The expertise brought in by the Chinese is
going to have ripple effects as the Ugandan government is now focusing on
encouraging commercial agriculture.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on June 5
said commercialization of agriculture was top on his priority list to spur
social and economic transformation.
Uganda depends on agriculture as a source
of economic livelihood. Over 70 percent of Ugandans depend on agriculture for
their livelihood. Sixty-eight percent of the farmers are engaged in subsistence
farming which does not generate enough income for households.
Museveni said over the next 12 months the
government will prioritize commercial agriculture focusing on crops that will
have domestic, regional and international demand to help pull millions of
Ugandans out of poverty.
Studies have been carried out on the growth
of Chinese hybrid rice in Uganda, with positive results recorded
Chukwudi Obi with additional reports from
Xinhua news agency
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